Stewed lentils and tomatoes

I was looking through Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa at Home and this recipe caught my eye. We’ve tried a few different lentil recipes in the past few months so I always seem to have them in the pantry. My dish definitely had more “juice” than the picture in the cookbook. I can’t figure that one out, since I followed the cooking directions to a T. The flavor was delicious. I have to confess though, that I hate eating chunky things, so that was a turn-off for me. I want to try the recipe again, but next time I’m going to dice things up instead of rough-chopping them. It will definitely appeal to me more that way, but Jim liked it a lot just the way it is.

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onions, carrots, and celery; cook over medium-low heat for 8-10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Stir occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Meanwhile, place the canned tomatoes, including the juice, in a food processor and pulse to coarsely chop. Rinse and pick over the lentils.

Add the tomatoes, lentils, chicken broth, curry powder, thyme, salt, and pepper to the pan. Raise the heat to bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer covered for about 40 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Remove from heat and allow lentils to sit uncovered for another 10 minutes. Add the vinegar, season to taste, and serve hot. Serves 6-8.